Friday 2 August 2013 02.00 EDT
First published on Friday 2 August 2013 02.00 EDT

Spending part of Saturday night cruising the suburbs of north London, alloys spinning, bass booming from the speakers, isn't generally my go-to weekend kick. But, given the news earlier that day that Tim Westwood, the self-styled Big Dog and OG of Radio 1, was being axed from the station after almost 20 years, there seemed no more fitting way to listen in. And so, my little brother and I went on a journey to see if Westwood still has it.

"We been running around something crazy this week," he drawled, with that unmistakeable Westwood swagger. "Up in Malia, Xantes and Kavos, everyone enjoying their holidays and getting their party on. It's like a frigging movie out there." And there, somewhere between him dropping – Westwood's always "dropping", he never just presses play – a DJ Khaled megamix and vintage Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (their 1996 hit The Crossroads is a Westwood staple anthem, fact fans), it soon became pretty clear: Radio 1 might be letting their oldest DJ go, but Westwood is no danger of losing his particular edge.

Granted, that edge is an acquired taste but Westwood is still the most credible voice in hip-hop Radio 1 has. His contacts book and chumminess with all manner of major US hip-hop stars – you name them, he's brapped at 'em – is well documented. As is his background (the well-to-do son of the former Bishop of Peterborough), his tendency to bullshit (the 2000 Guardian interview where, at 43, he insisted he was 27 years old is gold) and the fact that he was Sacha Baron Cohen's inspiration for Ali G.

But, for all that he's serially mocked, Westwood is the consummate performer. He creates shows in every sense of the word, with every sound effect, pow pow horn, reverb and echo used to build a multilayered broadcast like no other. More to the point, he knows how to DJ a solid set: who else on Radio 1 will slide obscure(ish) Philadelphian hip-hopper Meek Mill up against a mix of UK bashment tunes? Yes, he's self-aggrandising, narcissistic and, perhaps, several notches too brash. But that's the point of Westwood. And he's bloody funny with it.